1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to thermal management in a computer system, and more particularly to convective cooling of memory modules.
2. Background of the Related Art
Computer systems generate heat in relation to the amount of energy they consume. Cooling systems are used to maintain system components within prescribed temperature limits for operational reliability and safety. Various system components contribute to the total heat production of a computer system, including processors and memory. While processors are generally the hottest-running components, memory modules can also generate a significant amount of heat. In a blade server, for example, memory modules may be responsible for as much as 50% of the total server heat production. Meanwhile, increasingly powerful systems are being developed within compact chassis dimensional constraints. The correspondingly high component and thermal densities in a modern computer system therefore present significant cooling demands.
Large computer systems have especially high-powered, high-density configurations, wherein many blade servers and other power-consuming equipment are closely packed together in rack-mounted enclosures. Traditionally, a computer room air conditioning (CRAC) system provides a steady supply of chilled air for use in cooling such computer equipment. The servers and other equipment are cooled by forced-convection, using air moving devices, such as fans and chassis blower modules, to drive airflow through the computer system. The airflow through the computer system is directed to different heat-generating components of the system along engineered flow paths. However, compact chassis form factors and high component density leaves only limited space for airflow. As the density of heat generating components increases, therefore, air cooling solutions are becoming more complicated and costly.